PBY Catalina | Consolidated's flying boat and amphibious aircraft | World War II Seaplane | Upscaled

[Music] [Music] in the early days of flight most planes were flying boats lakes rivers bays and oceans provided ready-made runways but by the time world war ii started these runways were not always located where runways were needed so a shift to make runways and planes with landing gear became the usual configuration for aircraft however there was one seaplane that continued throughout the war and excelled in areas that other aircraft simply took an operand even though the plane was dated before the war started it overcame its age to go on to be one of the most famous world war ii planes in history consolidated aircraft companies pby catalina [Music] like most illustrious planes of the bygone eras of the great wars the catalina's creation can be found in the aspirations of one of aviation's great pioneers this is 1918 in the united states and it's the day the air mail service begins such was the importance of the event that president wilson attended to witness the posting of the first letter the pilot of the aircraft was major reuben fleet fleet went on to form the company that produced the catalina and many other outstanding aircraft the corporation was consolidated aircraft continent which you based in buffalo but by 1936 it moved the company to this site in san diego california to build the navy's new flying boat [Music] during the depression contracts were scarce and competition was tough and this move was a huge risk for the fledgling company but like many of his contemporaries of aviation development fleet took to the challenge [Music] his chief designer isaac m latin was convinced that consolidated could build a superior flying boat than what was already in service his focus was on the airframe and improved engine technology it's interesting to note that at this point all other seaplanes were biplanes [Music] the catalina was the first mono wing to take to the water and the air [Music] the original model was flown in 1933 although there was a number of versions produced it's the model 5 that's most recognized as it was produced in larger numbers and was the most used during the second world war boeing vickers and the naval air factory also built them under licence the united states navy employed over 3000 of the catalina other commonwealth nations including britain and the dutch also utilized the outstanding services that the catalina would provide [Music] the distinguishing feature of the model 5 and its predecessors is the bubble type blister on the fuselage this was used as a gun turret and offered superb visibility to spotting and tracking the enemy the blister was also very useful in another role that of sea rescues the visibility from the blister was greatly appreciated by catalina crews that were engaged in rescuing downed pilots and shipwreck victims during the war one of the early examples of seaplanes being used as mercy craft or rescue planes is probably found in the coast guard's history during the late 1920s and early 1930s the coast guard regularly used the flying boat to assist in marine rescues and evacuations as well as for weather observation it was a natural transition for the catalina's wartime duties seaplanes excelled in numerous roles during the war years but one of their most outstanding successes was that of submarine spotting and bombing in the early years of the war the highly efficient u-boat captains dispatched a considerable amount of allied shipping to the sea floor at the time there was little the allies could do however it was realized that if the flying boats could be given a suitable range they would be the perfect spotting platforms the germans had gained control over the crucial shipping lanes across the atlantic in a bid to strangle britain of the desperately needed wartime supplies the pby catalina took over from the earlier by winged flying boats and two models were formed a true seaplane and an amphibious craft that had retractable undercarriage which allowed it to land on both the sea and terra firma it was designated as the 5a model there were obvious advantages with the 5a model however they were slower heavier and subsequently had a reduced range as soon as britain received the catalina they were immediately pressed into service as submarine hunters the catalina had a range that exceeded 4 000 miles and this permitted it to escort convoys much further than was previously possible the catalina was the first real weapon that assisted in keeping the sea lanes open the effectiveness of the catalina was vastly improved when the first british radar system was installed in the north atlantic squadrons once detected the catalinas would assault the submarines with bombs or death charges [Music] consolidated's californian factory continued to build the pdy5 nearly right throughout the war the pby5 was so successful that even as later models became available the five and five day model still maintain healthy orders [Music] the pby's construction was a mixture of boat building and aircraft manufacture the wing which was perhaps the most important part regarding the pby success was built from steel and hand-stitched canvas the wing was made of steel and a skin constructed from a special unbleached cotton cloth that was hand stitched to the steel framework combination of cloth and metal gave the wing strength and the linen contributed to the lightness of the construction [Music] the wing was then coated with a special aviation dope that stretched the cotton tight and bonded the two materials together the assembly of this consumed hundreds of hours of demanding craftsmanship [Music] another feature of the pby swing was its retractable wingtip floats that could be raised during flight to reduce drag and improve the aircraft's handling characteristics [Music] the large wing of the pby was the secret to the plane's success it provided great lift and held the plane's entire fuel load that would give the pvy its legendary long range capability another interesting fact is that the dry climate of california permitted the construction of some aspects of the pby such as the fitting of the wings to be completed outdoors this saved the company from having to build thousands of square feet of roofed factory space tens of thousands of rivets were required and consolidated's rivet machine produced about a million rivets a week due to the stress of landing on water the hull needed more attention to detail than other planes of this vintage and the plating had to be watertight [Music] the rivets needed special attention to ensure the tightest fit they were frozen until required when pressed in cold they would warm and expand and that ensured a tighter than standard fit [Music] the craftsmen at the consolidated manufacturing facility were as much boat builders as they were aircraft builders the fuselage had to pass a water-tight test since it wasn't feasible to build a water tank for testing the integrity of the fuselage rather the fuselage was filled with water and checked by inspecting the outside surface instead the center spa was a unique design for its time as it housed the flight engineer normally he would sit behind the pilot but in this plane he sat above the pilot and was indeed very close to the engines he monitored [Music] the pdy5 was awarded in december 1939 and had an improved power plant of two fatten whitney double wasp engines rated at 1200 horsepower compared to the pby poor's 1050 horsepower just four bolts held the engines to the wings nearing the final stage of construction the aircraft was painted [Music] aircraft designations such as bl which stands for like bomber reflected the aircraft's use [Music] in the case of the catalina its letter designation does not reflect that the craft is a plane the letters pb stood for patrol boat and the y was the consolidated description the pby's greatest asset was its range and the ability to fly comfortably on just one engine which further decreased its fuel consumption in addition to this it was rugged and had a great ability to survive hard water landings which was greatly appreciated by the crews that flew her and the downed pilots that were saved by this aircraft [Music] the pby was in essence an early 1930s design and although it was used in many theaters of the war it was showing its age when it was compared to newly designed aircraft however it was so good at the roles it was given that even its outdated performance still couldn't hold back the catalina from going on to become a legend the catalina fell short in many areas for example its top speed was less than many of the cars of that day and as a bomber the wing design couldn't even cope with half the pressures of a newer dive bomber [Music] interestingly the legend of the pby catalina can be found in another great aircraft the b-24 liberator sits in the shadow of the most famous bomber a b-17 flying fortress however in the beginning of the war it was the most influential bomber and was manufactured in great numbers [Music] a total of nineteen thousand hundred 256 planes in several versions were produced by consolidated lolte board motor company douglas aircraft and north american aircraft between the years of 1939 and 1945 [Music] the success and strength of the b-24 liberator is due to a wing design sold to consolidated in 1937 by david r davis who was a near destitute inventor ruben h fleet the president of consolidated was convinced through wind tunnel tests that this slender wing with sharp cumber would provide greater lift not only was the b-24 liberator produced in greater quantities than any other american bomber it also flew in more theaters of war by the air forces of more countries than any other four engine bomber a fully armed and combat-ready b-24 carried a crew of 10 men its gross weight when loaded was greater than 60 thousand pounds in its most common form it had four moveable turrets each with two 50 caliber machine guns and two individual 50s in the waist making a total of ten it was powered by four 1200 horsepower engines and carrick 2750 gallons of fuel many b-24 missions were round trips of 1500 miles and some extended ranges were closer to 2000 miles the planes were not pressurized or heated crewmen wore oxygen masks on high altitude missions and were exposed to temperatures that reached minus 30 degrees fahrenheit and below a pdy5 catalina was not consolidated only seaplane in production during the war in 1936 the company started production on the much heavier patrol bomber the pb2y [Music] this was a larger plane with four engines and a double-decker fuselage unlike the catalina this plane was only produced as a flying boat no amstipius version was available [Music] the pb2y never achieved the theme of the catalina only small numbers at the pv2y were built it was consolidated model number 29 and production ceased in 1941 this plane never reached the acclaim of the catalina perhaps the catalina was just the right plane for the right job even though in most aztecs the plane was outdated this is evident in the laborious task of preparing the catalina for a mission more modern craft had better and quicker methods of flight preparation the catalina was a hands-on job sub-catalinas operated in many secret operations throughout the war they flew night missions and were painted black they became known as black cats [Music] their goals included mine lane bombing enemy shipping and sea rescues they most often worked alone and the only cover they had was the black paint that helped camouflage them in the night sky [Music] the black cat crews left at dusk and their flights extended well into the night at that time there wasn't any such thing as global positioning and night flying gave them little opportunity to navigate by visual means their main means of navigation was the stars the crews mostly flew blind [Music] a crew may be grateful for a moonless night for safety reasons yet the same night resulted in a much reduced chance to find and destroy an enemy [Music] although nearly invisible to the eye the engine noise often alerted the enemy to the presence of the black cats if they were lucky the cats would be able to strike first and withdraw in success before the enemy could get into full swing the japanese became aware of the black cat's tactics and put together the japanese knight fighters to counter-attack the old catalina was very susceptible as its age was a very real barrier to any performance fly however with black paint and the ability to land on water the cats often dived and skin the ocean in a cat and mouse game of detection the antiques of the black cats has only recently come to light as the veil of secrecy is lifting they stealthily hunted down freighters submarines tankers and even destroyers [Music] [Music] they were named black cats but in their black paint they could just as easily have been called panthers the catalina was a success in both battle actions and commercial applications in fact after the war many went on to continue in service for many years it was not in any way an outstanding performance crowd but it was outstanding in simplicity ruggedness reliability ease of service and long range avy was just a perfect plane for the roles it was given seemed the pain was designed around these roles however the irony is the plane was designed well before its wartime missions were called for [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: DroneScapes

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Id: 2qlMbZ70rqc

Length: 22min 59sec (1379 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 18 2022